Vatican Report. Cindy Wooden: Evangelization requires communication and the Vatican, like the Church, is trying to re-invent how it communicates. But it’s slow going for an institution that thinks in …More
Vatican Report.
Cindy Wooden: Evangelization requires communication and the Vatican, like the Church, is trying to re-invent how it communicates. But it’s slow going for an institution that thinks in centuries, not Megabytes per second. This is the Vatican Report. I’m Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service.
CG: And I’m Carol Glatz. The Vatican set up its own website in 1997 and has not redesigned the site since. Even though it has a Web site, a radio station and a television production center, the Vatican still depends mostly on the printed page to get its point across. Just last week, the Vatican released Pope Benedict’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Word of God. The 194-page booklet was distributed to journalists at a press conference, and a group of synod fathers read from written texts. Multi-media displays and off-the-cuff remarks are rare to non-existent.
CW: In his text on the Bible, the Pope thanked Catholic communicators for bringing God’s word to the new media and he called for a “wider and more qualified commitment” in using new technologies. But he did not mention any specifics like the fact that people can find various translations of the Bible online and there even are applications that bring the daily Scripture readings to people’s cellphones. Instead he urged caution -- reminding people that the virtual world can never be a substitute for personal contact, being part of a faith community and receiving the Sacraments.
CG: The Vatican Television Center has just upgraded to full high definition for its worldwide broadcasts. And thanks to funding from the Knights of Columbus, they inaugurated this week a new mobile HD recording and broadcasting unit from Sony. It's an immense 18-wheeler truck with 16 workstations inside. It’s also compatible for broadcasting in 3-D. The television center sends out live feeds covering an average of 200 Vatican events a year.
CW: At the same time, though, discussions continue between the Vatican’s liturgy experts and the Vatican’s media experts. It’s a challenge to make the most popular broadcasts -- like the Christmas midnight Mass or the Easter Vigil Mass -- broadcast friendly and sacred at the same time. When the altar has six large candlesticks and a crucifix on it, TV cameras have a hard time getting a clear shot of the Pope. And while Pope Benedict tries to help people understand that silence is essential for communicating with God, even a minute of silence in a radio broadcast can make listeners wonder if they’ve lost the frequency.
CG: The Pontifical Council for Social Communications just announced this week that it’s revamping its Pope2You website, which lets people receive and share images and inspiring words of the Pope via email, Facebook, iPhone and YouTube. The council’s president, Archbishop Claudio Celli, also announced the Vatican has just starting working on creating a multimedia online news aggregator of all five of its individual news outlets. It’s a clear sign that the Vatican, in its own cautious and measured timeframe, is committed to learning to use new tools to send the timeless Gospel message to the world. I’m Carol Glatz.
CW: And I’m Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service.
Cindy Wooden: Evangelization requires communication and the Vatican, like the Church, is trying to re-invent how it communicates. But it’s slow going for an institution that thinks in centuries, not Megabytes per second. This is the Vatican Report. I’m Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service.
CG: And I’m Carol Glatz. The Vatican set up its own website in 1997 and has not redesigned the site since. Even though it has a Web site, a radio station and a television production center, the Vatican still depends mostly on the printed page to get its point across. Just last week, the Vatican released Pope Benedict’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Word of God. The 194-page booklet was distributed to journalists at a press conference, and a group of synod fathers read from written texts. Multi-media displays and off-the-cuff remarks are rare to non-existent.
CW: In his text on the Bible, the Pope thanked Catholic communicators for bringing God’s word to the new media and he called for a “wider and more qualified commitment” in using new technologies. But he did not mention any specifics like the fact that people can find various translations of the Bible online and there even are applications that bring the daily Scripture readings to people’s cellphones. Instead he urged caution -- reminding people that the virtual world can never be a substitute for personal contact, being part of a faith community and receiving the Sacraments.
CG: The Vatican Television Center has just upgraded to full high definition for its worldwide broadcasts. And thanks to funding from the Knights of Columbus, they inaugurated this week a new mobile HD recording and broadcasting unit from Sony. It's an immense 18-wheeler truck with 16 workstations inside. It’s also compatible for broadcasting in 3-D. The television center sends out live feeds covering an average of 200 Vatican events a year.
CW: At the same time, though, discussions continue between the Vatican’s liturgy experts and the Vatican’s media experts. It’s a challenge to make the most popular broadcasts -- like the Christmas midnight Mass or the Easter Vigil Mass -- broadcast friendly and sacred at the same time. When the altar has six large candlesticks and a crucifix on it, TV cameras have a hard time getting a clear shot of the Pope. And while Pope Benedict tries to help people understand that silence is essential for communicating with God, even a minute of silence in a radio broadcast can make listeners wonder if they’ve lost the frequency.
CG: The Pontifical Council for Social Communications just announced this week that it’s revamping its Pope2You website, which lets people receive and share images and inspiring words of the Pope via email, Facebook, iPhone and YouTube. The council’s president, Archbishop Claudio Celli, also announced the Vatican has just starting working on creating a multimedia online news aggregator of all five of its individual news outlets. It’s a clear sign that the Vatican, in its own cautious and measured timeframe, is committed to learning to use new tools to send the timeless Gospel message to the world. I’m Carol Glatz.
CW: And I’m Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service.